Vauxhall Grandland X long-term test review

• The car Vauxhall Grandland X Elite Nav 1.2 130 Turbo S/S
• Run by John Bradshaw, chief photographer
• Why it’s here To see if Vauxhall’s late entry to the SUV market is worth considering over accomplished rivals such as the Skoda Karoq and Peugeot 3008
• Needs to Be cheap to run, provide smooth transport on long journeys and have enough space inside for the family’s clutter and all the camera gear

Price £26,660 Price as tested £28,490 Miles covered 10,180 Official fuel economy 52.3mpg Test economy 36.5mpg Options Wireless phone charging (£160), heated windshield (£100), fixed panoramic sunroof (£695), spare wheel (£110), Winter Pack 2 (£200), two-coat metallic paint (£565)

22 June 2018 – real-world fuel economy

Downsizing. It’s a word you’ve probably read countless times if you’re a regular reader of motoring websites, but what does it mean exactly? Well, with emissions regulations becoming increasingly stringent throughout Europe, manufacturers have responded by developing smaller, turbocharged engines.

The theory is rather straightforward: by reducing engine capacity, you improve fuel economy; and by attaching a turbocharger to the engine, you make up for the deficit in performance created by the smaller engine. But does it work? Well, if the turbocharged 1.2-litre engine in my Grandland X is anything to go by, the answer is sadly not really.

With only 128bhp on tap, I find that I have to rev the engine quite hard to make reasonable progress; this in turn wakes up the turbocharger, introducing more air and more fuel into the unit. So instead of getting the 52.3mpg that official tests say I should be getting, I’ve been averaging closer to 35mpg. That makes the Grandland X less economical than my old Ford Edge, with its hefty 2.0-litre diesel.

Now, I know our True MPG tests have demonstrated time after time that ‘downsized’ engines tend to underperform in the real world, but I still wasn’t quite prepared for how often I’ve had to visit the pumps.

Next: More from our long-term Grandland X >